1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements on a flexible printed circuit board crimp terminal for connecting a core of an electric wire or a lead wire of an electrical component to a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as FPC) having good flexibility.
2. Related Art
An FPC crimp terminal for connecting a terminal or the like of a counterpart to an FPC has been known, as shown in FIG. 8, wherein a rectangular bottom plate 91, pointed fixing parts 92, 92, 92 rising from both edges in the width direction of the bottom plate 91 at one end thereof, and a connecting or splicing part 93 formed at the other end of the bottom plate 91 and to be connected to a terminal or the like of the counterpart are provided, and the above-mentioned fixing parts 92, 92, 92 are forced to pierce the FPC from its back, then the fixing parts 92, 92, 92 coming out of the front of the FPC are bent towards the bottom plate 91 (this operation is called piercing), and finally, the connecting part 93 is connected to a terminal or the like of the counterpart (for example, refer to Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 4-223069).
In the above-mentioned conventional FPC crimp terminal, as fixing parts 92 are formed on one end of the bottom plate 91 and the connecting part 93 are formed on the other end thereof, the bottom plate 91 has to be long thus a greater space is required. This prevents compactification of a connector or the like in which this FPC crimp terminal is used. There is another drawback. It is low efficiency of work since this FPC crimp terminal requires two processes; the piercing process to pierce the fixing parts 92 through the FPC and bend them, and the connecting process to connect the connecting part 93 to a terminal or the like of the counterpart.
The present invention was made in view of these points, and its objective is to provide an FPC crimp terminal for connecting a core of an electric wire or a lead wire of an electric component to an FPC and use the fixing part to accomplish the piercing process and the connecting process simultaneously so as to compactify the FPC crimp terminal and improve the work efficiency through reduction in the total number of processes.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objective, the FPC crimp terminal disclosed herein is provided with a bottom plate being formed from a flat plate and a fixing part rising from an edge of the bottom plate, and this FPC crimp terminal is formed in such a way that when a core or a lead wire is brought into direct contact with a conductor of an FPC, the fixing part is made to pierce the FPC from its back or front and the top end of the fixing part coming out of the FPC is bent towards the bottom plate, the core or the lead wire and the FPC will be pinched between the top end of the fixing part and the bottom plate.
When a core or a lead wire is brought into direct contact with a conductor of an FPC, the fixing part of the above-mentioned FPC crimp terminal is made to pierce the FPC, and the top end of the fixing part coming out of the FPC is bent towards the bottom plate, the core or the lead wire and the FPC will be pinched between the top end of the fixing part and the bottom plate and the core or the lead wire will be connected to the FPC. In this case, as piercing with the fixing part also effects connecting the core or the lead wire, there is no need of, unlike the conventional case, providing a connecting or splicing part separately. Accordingly, the terminal can be made shorter and more compact by that portion, and a connector or the like that uses this terminal can be compactified significantly. Furthermore, as the piercing process and the connecting process are made simultaneously, the number of processes is reduced and the work efficiency of connecting the core or the lead wire to the FPC is enhanced.
The next FPC crimp terminal disclosed herein is provided with a bottom plate being a rectangular flat plate and fixing parts rising from both edges in the width direction of the bottom plate, and this FPC crimp terminal is formed in such a way that when a core or a lead wire is brought into direct contact with a conductor of an FPC, the fixing parts rising from both edges in the width direction of the bottom plate are made to straddle the core or the lead wire and pierce the FPC from its back or front, and the top ends of the fixing parts coming out of the FPC are bent towards the bottom plate, the core or the lead wire and FPC will be pinched between the top ends of the fixing parts and the bottom plate.
When a core or a lead wire is brought into direct contact with a conductor of an FPC, the fixing parts rising from both edges in the width direction of the bottom plate of the above-mentioned FPC crimp terminal are made to straddle the core or the lead wire and pierce the FPC, and the top ends of the fixing parts coming out of the FPC are bent towards the bottom plate, the core or the lead wire and the FPC will be pinched between the top ends of the fixing parts and the bottom part and the core or the lead wire will be connected to the FPC. In this case, as piercing with the fixing parts also effects connecting the core or the lead wire, there is no need of, unlike the conventional case, providing a connecting or splicing part separately. Accordingly, the terminal can be made shorter and more compact by that portion, and a connector or the like that uses this FPC crimp terminal can be compactified significantly. Furthermore, as the piercing process and the connecting process are made simultaneously, the number of processes is reduced and the work efficiency of connecting the core or the lead wire to the FPC is enhanced. Moreover, as at least a pair of fixing parts rise from both edges in the width direction of the bottom plate, the pinching forces of the fixing parts are stable and the resulting crimping forces on the core or the lead wire are balanced well.
More FPC crimp terminals are disclosed herein that are the respective above-mentioned FPC crimp terminals with a stopper being formed on one end in the longitudinal direction of the bottom plate to protrude in the direction of withdrawal of the core or the lead wire.
With this arrangement, when an FPC crimp terminal with a core or a lead wire connected is stored in a casing or the like of a connector, even if the core or the lead wire is pulled in the direction of withdrawal, the stopper will be held by the casing or the like and the FPC crimp terminal will be hardly withdrawn from the casing or the like, preventing defective connection.
Further, a crimp structure is disclosed herein that uses the respective above-mentioned FPC crimp terminals to connect a core to an FPC. In this crimp structures, a core is brought into direct contact with a conductor of an FPC, a fixing part or fixing parts is made to pierce the FPC from its back or front, the top end of the fixing part or the top ends of the fixing parts coming out of the FPC is bent towards the bottom plate, the core and the FPC are pinched between the top end of the fixing part or the top ends of the fixing parts and the bottom plate, and the fixing part or the fixing parts crimps the core with the top end of the core left uncrimped.
In this crimp structure, in addition to the functions and effects of the respective above-mentioned FPC crimp terminals, a difference in grade that is formed on the core between the portion crimped by the fixing part and the top portion not crimped secures sufficient retention force for the core and the core will be hardly withdrawn.